Garden at the Howe House

While we’re still cultivating last year’s space, we’re planning for a bigger space in 2026!Using recycled billboard tarps, we’re prepping a 40’ x 50’ circular garden. Outer beds will feature native pollinators, edibles, and medicinal perennials, while inner beds will grow traditional annual crops like tomatoes, peppers, greens, herbs, and roots. Plus, an exciting collaboration with Emporia Arts Council’s Coffee and Clay Club is coming soon!

In March, the garden was full of re-seeded wildflowers, plus thyme and flat-leaf sage that survived winter under leaves and plant matter. We hope the sunflower stalks provided homes for beneficial insects. Last year’s wildflower bed is now planted with carrots and will include tomatoes, peppers, and herbs to reduce mulch needs and combat Bermuda grass. The old tomato bed is becoming a three-sisters bed, and we’re setting up a three-bay compost system with wooden pallets!

Under intern Abby Foster’s care, the garden thrived! The squash did so well in 2023 that we added another bed. The previous three-sisters bed was seeded with native wildflowers, and volunteer sunflowers flourished in 2024. The new bed grew carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, basil, and beets—all thriving despite Bermuda grass creeping in and the challenge of two separated beds. The garden is productive, and the gardeners are happy!

Our “four sisters” garden showcased Indigenous planting practices, using seeds specific to different Indigenous groups. In 2023, we grew Ponca Blue Corn (Seeds of Resistance), Potawatomi Pole Beans, Mvskoke Pumpkin, Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower), and other Helianthus. The Mvskoke Pumpkin thrived, outgrowing and shading the corn and beans too early for their success. However, we enjoyed a delicious three-sisters stew at the October “Good Way Sunday” event, featuring plenty of Mvskoke Pumpkin!